You Really “Like” Me!

~ Sally Field, on winning her first Oscar in 1980 for her role in Norma Rae

As I began to write this article and I reviewed great explanations of the difference between the Like and the Share buttons on Facebook to make sure I captured everything that my readers would need, I came across this explanation which, quite frankly, says it all, simply, and quite well.

Not wishing to reinvent the wheel, nor feeling the need to put this into my own words to make it, well, mine, I’ll simply focus my entry here mostly on this well-written article from eHow*below. Here’s what you need to know about using the Likeand the Sharebuttons:

Like Button

The Likefeature is a quick way to add good feedback to content on or off Facebook. When you click the Likebutton on a page or item, such as a photo or comment, several things happen at the same time: a post is created on your Wall, your friends will see a story about it in their News Feeds, and the “like” action appears below the item you liked. If you “like” a Facebook page, you effectively subscribe to that Page. Status updates from that Page will stream into your News Feed. The Likebutton is a single-click operation — you click it once and instantly “vote” for the content.

Share Button

The Sharefeature on Facebook allows you to share a page or content on- or off-site. When you “share” an item, you create a post about that content and have the ability to add a comment to it. For example, when you share a Web page via a Share button on that page, the page appears with its title, address, an excerpt of the page and a thumbnail picture if you choose to add one. When you type a message or comment in the input box, it appears together with the link. You can decide with whom to share the post with by clicking the privacy button.

Differences

The Likeand Sharebuttons serve different purposes and both have their own uses. The Likebutton is akin to a vote of confidence, an informal endorsement or support of a page or content, without comment. On the other hand, a Sharebutton is used to share content that you may or may not like. While the Likefeature creates a one-line story, a Sharemay include remarks or a picture from that page.

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So here’s the next question: Is one better than the other?

If you simply must choose, Shares, by virtue of how they work (a one-liner or instant vote [Like] versus the ability to comment and share links, and other important information about that content [Share]) seem to be the best choice.

Shares are more visible on Facebook. They encourage ongoing conversation by opening up a new thread on your news feed, which, in turn, encourages others to like or share and comment as well, all leading to more traffic to your Facebook page and hopefully, to your website.

So as you add these buttons/this functionality to your website, ezines, sales pages, etc., keep in mind that you’ll most likely want to have both buttons available to your readers. Both do the job of spreading the word about your website and products/services, your articles, your Facebook posts, etc., albeit in slightly different ways.

Be sure to give your visitors and loyal readers the best options (which is to have both at the ready) to share what they’ve learned about you and to help continue the conversation about what you have to offer.